Reader explains Tea Party values

Where was the Tea Party? As someone who actually does a little research before forming too firm a position, I'd like to risk being told where to go for not agreeing with Mr. Reese. I won't waste time asking where he was. First, the Tea Party had not been officially formed. There has been decades where protectors of liberty and the Constitution have met in small and larger groups to discuss the outrages being done by politicians from both major parties at all levels. Those outrages done during the Bush years pushed many of us to get more actively involved. The mandates, czars, and new regulations and other Obama idiocies is what finally blossomed into the Tea Party.

As an active Tea Party member who has helped put on four area rallies, I know several absolute facts, not just a bloviating opinion. The Tea Party is in no way an arm of the Republican Party. It is made up of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, Constitutionalists and every hybrid mix, as well as being made up of red, yellow, brown, black, white and every blend of races that make America what it is. I doubt Mr. Reese has ever attended any Tea Party meeting, let alone a rally. But he knows all about 'em. The meetings are always open to the public, opinions are freely discussed, positions debated, and courses of action sometimes set into motion. Everyone who participates with common courtesy is free to speak. Robert's Rules of Order do not control us, neighborly respect does. Everyone is free to let their passion for a cause lead them where it will and to share what they've learned when again we meet.

The glue that binds this rag-tag band together is the common outrage we feel from professional politicians trying to micro-manage our lives.

Jon Smith

Moses Lake